Government

Gov. Jay Inslee and state officials unveiled a $45 million rebate program on Tuesday to help low-income Washingtonians purchase or lease electric vehicles.

Spokane Valley City Councilman Al Merkel has announced his candidacy for a state Senate seat being vacated by fellow Republican Sen. Mike Padden.

The candidates who managed to clinch a party endorsement are not guaranteed a spot on the general election ballot come November. However, an endorsement earns them free publicity and fundraising help from the party in the coming months. 

Ferguson spoke at a luncheon in the Spokane Convention Center to a room full of roughly 170 local politicians and community members, asking them to donate to his campaign. Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown and City Councilmember Zack Zappone spoke at the fundraising event before Ferguson stepped up to the podium.

Andrew Koeppen, who for six months has claimed to be the new chairman of the Grant County GOP, was seated with his slate of delegates at the Washington Republican convention in Spokane this weekend. But David Hunt says he is still the real chairman.

Landlords in Spokane will have to warn tenants 120 or 180 days in advance before raising rents if an ordinance proposed Monday is passed on April 29 by the City Council.

After a backlash, delegates returned Saturday for the final day of the state Republican Party convention in Spokane and endorsed gubernatorial hopeful Semi Bird, a day following party leadership’s attempt to to skip making an endorsement in the race altogether.

Rep. Sue Chew, the longest serving Democrat in the Idaho Legislature, died on Wednesday following a battle with pancreatic cancer, officials with the Idaho Democratic Party said.

Following a legislative session with no action taken to clarify or amend Idaho’s near-total abortion ban, some residents have formed a political group called Idahoans United for Women and Families to explore options for a possible 2026 ballot initiative that would restore and protect access to reproductive care statewide, including abortion.

Roughly 1,800 delegates showed up to the three-day political gathering at the Spokane Convention Center, marking the annual event’s highest turnout in history, officials said. The GOP’s attempt to forgo making an endorsement in the governor’s race came after news broke that gubernatorial candidate Semi Bird was convicted in 1993 of a misdemeanor for lying on a credit card application.

A yearlong trespass order has been dropped against a man who was arrested after refusing to leave a Bonner County Commissioners meeting in January, and criminal charges were dropped against another man who was similarly arrested twice.

Washington Court of Appeals Judge Rebecca Pennell is a step closer to serving on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington after she was nominated for the position by President Joe Biden in March.

Spokane County commissioners hope their decision last week to buy an office building adjacent to their roughly nine-block county campus around the courthouse will settle many longtime space issues affecting multiple offices.

Washington’s front-running Democratic candidate for governor is embracing a Republican idea that would hasten building of new ferries and slow the state’s push to electrify the fleet.

The Spokane County Republican Party has issued a correction: Ferry County Commissioner Brian Dansel, not Spokane City Councilman Jonathan Bingle, received the party’s highest score for a candidate running to represent Eastern Washington in Congress.